Various forms of network storage systems exist today including network attached storage (NAS), storage area networks (SANs), and others. These network storage systems are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as providing multiple users with access to shared data, backing up critical data (e.g., by data mirroring), etc.
Typically, disk storage in these network storage systems is implemented as one or more storage volumes comprising physical storage disks, stacks of storage arrays, and storage tapes that are configured to define an overall logical arrangement of storage space. Due to the frequent use of these disk storages by users, monitoring the performance status of the disk storages has become extremely important. One of the most important aspects of this monitoring is to quickly identify errors within any of the storage devices. Unfortunately, to date prior technologies have not been able to effectively or efficiently perform this monitoring task.